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1814 Campaign in France
.]] During the War of the Sixth Coalition, there was an 1814 campaign in France. Prelude Background After having been cornered at Leipzig by the combined might of the European powers, Napoleon had suffered a crushing defeat at the so called 'Battle of the Nations' during the autumn of 1813 and had been forced to withdraw his battered army back across the Rhine and abandon his bid to retain control of Germany. Now, with the allies amassing their forces on the Rhine, poised to invade the last stronghold of his Empire, France itself, Napoleon took stock of his reduced circumstances and was not found wanting... There were those, both within and without France, who said that the writing was on the wall, but they had not reckoned on the formidable will of Napoleon, who ever the supreme optimist, was determined that he would not be subdued without a fight. With the bulk of his experienced troops either tied up fighting the Duke of Wellington in Southern France or else locked up in garrisons within Germany, the Netherlands and the border fortresses of France, Napoleon was only able to scrape trogether some 80,000 hastily trained conscripts, christened the Marie Louises to oppose the onslaught of the more than 300,000 seasoned troops that the allies could field. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the allies, Napoleon appeared undaunted by the titanic task which lay before him and still confident of his abilities for he was able to write to Marshal Marmont in mid November to say "At the present we are not in a position to do anything, but by the first fortnight in January we shall be in a position to achieve a great deal." Pre-campaign However, when the allies offered peace based upon the natural boundaries of France, the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees in mid-November, Napoleon appeared to pause for thought, but was then subsequently informed by the allies that peace could only be made upon the basis of the 'frontiers of 1792.' Not surprisingly, and perhaps as the allies foresaw, Napoleon rejected the terms, informing his minister of foreign affairs Caulaincourt negotiating on his behalf that "I think it is doubtful whether the allies are in good faith, or that England wants peace... I certainly desire it, but it must be long lasting and honourable. The allies wish to reduce France to a state by which she can no longer take her place amonst the powers of Europe. I will neither degrade France nor myself by accepting such dishonourable terms." But there were some in the government legislative assembly who derided Napoleon, particularly Joseph Laine who issued an adress in which he attacked Napoleon's ruinous policies. The Emperor, said Laine, should make peace for France and himself on any terms he could get. Napoleon, furious, flared up and spoke severely to its members: "It is I who can save France and not you... Your commission has humiliated me more than my enemies. It adds irony to insult. It states that adversity is the true councillor of kings. That may be so, but to apply it to me in the present circumstances is an act of cowardice." Heedless of his detractors, Napoleon also had cause for hope because he knew through Caulaincourt that the allies yet contained divisions within their ranks which might be exploited. The tsar Alexander thought only of avenging Moscow and dictating peace terms within a humbled Paris. Blucher followed much the same line, burning with a desire born of hatred to avenge the humiliating defeat of Prussia in 1806. Yet, Blucher's sovereign, King Frederick William III of Prussia, was wary of giving Napoleon a chance to recoup his fortunes on the battlefield and win back all he had lost. As for the Austrians, both Metternich and Emperor Francis II harboured a wish to retain Napoleon upon the throne to help preserve the balance of power in Europe from a looming Russia whom they feared might swallow Poland and Prussia who might snatch Saxony. Britain too wished to preserve the balance of power if at all possible. With this in mind, Napoleon reasoned that the tenuous alliance might well fall apart on its own accord, and if not. A series of stunning victories over the allies on French soil might compell them to lay down their arms and allow him to dictate a peace on his own terms. Campaign With proclamations that they came as liberators, their only enemy being Napoleon, the allies with some trepidation for they still feared Napoleon's prowess on the field of battle, crossed the Rhine in late December. They planned a three pronged offensive against the French Emperor: Schwarzenberg commanding the Army of Bohemia with 210,000 Austrian's from the Upper Rhine, Bernadotte with 60,000 from the Netherlands and Blucher leading the 75,000 strong Prussian/Russian Silesian Army army advancing from Lorraine, all converging on Paris. ....And if that was not enough, The Duke of Wellington threatened the South of France where Marshal Soult was holding the line. "Have faith, do I not know my trade anymore?" ''With these words to Marie Louise , his fearful Empress and his stepdaughter Hortense, Napoleon prepared to leave for the front to join his army, hoping to meet the multiple spearheads of the allied advance on Paris and defeat them in detail as of old. Dashed hopes Napoleon vowed that he must seize the initiative first to throw the allies of balance as they plunged through the Frech countryside towards Paris, and so in his first action of his 'Defence of the Patrie,' Napoleon pounced on Blucher's dispersed 25,000 men with 30,000 of his own on the 29th of January 1814, determined to crush the seventy one year old Prussian war horse before he could be joined by Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia. At the Battle of Brienne where he had been a schoolboy 30 years before, Napoleon forced Blucher to retreat after fierce house to house fighting; an action in which Marshal Ney distinguished himself. With Blucher suffering some 4,000 casualties and himself some 3,000, it appeared that Napoleon had won a marginal victory, but it was not the devastating result that Napoleon had been hoping for. Blucher was still at large and at one point during the Battle the war had almost ended at a stroke, when Napoleon had almost been captured by the Cossacks, only being saved by the Intervention of General Gourgaud. Nonetheless, on the other hand Napoleon had every reason to feel pleased with his raw conscripts, for though they lacked experience, they had fought with great spirit and had now been 'blooded'. Three days later, Blucher did indeed manage to join up with Schwarzenberg and his Austrian army at La-Rothiere, five miles from Napoleon's victory at Brienne, bringing their joint forces to 116,000 men, and they immediately counter attacked Napoleon's mere 40,000 men at the Battle of La-Rothiere, forcing Napoleon to fight in the teeth of a snowstorm for he had been intending to withdraw in the face of such superior odds opposing him. The French line sagged as the allied columns slammed into them, but Napoleon's forces stubbornly held their ground and only nightfall brought relief to his beleaguered troops as he skillfully extricated his forces, aided by both the thick snowfall and the gathering gloom. Both sides had lost around 6,000 men, but Napoleon could ill afford such losses, while the allies could absorb theirs. With the Union of Blucher and Schwarzenberg, Napoleon's forces were too weak to stop them, thus it was that Napoleon decided on a retreat, rather than face a resumption of battle the next day; first to Troyes and then onwards to Nogent, a distance of 60 miles. Napoleon's dissapointed troops to whom he had promised victory muttered bitterly, ''"When are we going to stop?" With the allies now marching rapidly upon Paris, crowing over their victory over Napoleon at La-Rothiere, Napoleon in a bitter mood received a further blow on the night of 7-8th of February when a despatch informed him that Marshal Murat whom he had made King of Naples, had deserted his cause by signing a treaty with the allies. "I hope I live long enough to take my own and France's vengeance for such frightful ingratitude" he hissed in anger. It was a further blow to Napoleon too, for he had been hoping that his stepson, Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy would be able to cross from Italy and threaten the enemies rear. Murats's treachery had put paid to that scheme. At around this time, Napoleon also received yet another peace offer from the allies based upon the frontiers of 1792, and again he scornfully dismissed the terms." It is either the natural frontiers or nothing" Yet, dismayed by his reverse and Murat's treachery Napoleon now saw the end of the war in sight and wrote to his brother Joseph in Paris,'' " It is entirely possible that I shall make peace shortly" But then heartening news arrived from Marshal Marmont on the front line, sending Napoleon into an ecstasy of joy, for the despatch revealed that Blucher and Schwarzenberg in a foolish move which Napoleon knew well how to exploit, and perhaps believing that Napoleon's retreat of sixty miles had been a sign that French resistance had ceased, had parted company and were now marching upon separate paths upon the French capital. ''"Peace can wait!" ''Napoleon jubilantly declared to his generals, "I will beat Blucher tommorrow, and then I will beat him again the day after..."'' February Recovery Regarding the campaign so far, It had been a lacklustre start for Napoleon and the allies were flushed from their success at La-Rothiere causing their morale to soar while morale plummeted in Napoleon's ranks, leading thousands of conscirpts to desert his eagles. But February would see a wild upward swing in Napoleon's fortunes and he would dazzle his enemies by his brilliance and see his generalship climb to new heights. Blucher, convinced that Napoleon's days were now numbered after after his repulse at La-Rothiere had now become drunk on overconfidence and was exhorting his Army of Silesia to march rapidly onwards to Paris, recklessly disregarding any likelihood of a possible counter-attack. As a result, his various army corps had become strung out and dispersed... Schwarzenberg meanwhile, was advancing at a much more sedate pace for the cautious Austrian general was less than convinced that Napoleon was a spent force. He was displeased at Blucher's impetuous march on the French capital for he was worried about a vengeful Napoleon still roaming the countryside who might take advantage of the isolated armies. Another reason for his more leisurely advance was for political reasons; secretly he was less keen than the Prussians to see Napoleon's immediate downfall. Napoleon watching these developments from Troyes, now saw the telling counterstroke to regain the initiative developing before his very eyes. Paris was the key. If the capital fell, then so would he. With Blucher strung out in the pursuit of it's capture, he had become isolated from Schwarzenberg and thus vunerable. With his corps strung out, he could defeat them in detail. He surmised that after Blucher was finished he could then turn on Schwarzenberg and with a bit of luck, drive him back across the Rhine. Napoleon's boast that he would "beat Blucher tommorrow, then the day after" had not been idle talk, for almost as good as his word, two days later on the 10th of February at a little past 10:00 am, Napoleon with 30,000 men fell upon the isolated Russian corps of General Olsufiev at Champaubert. With only 5,000 men and 24 guns, Olsufiev made a rash error when he decided to fight. Outnumbered 6 to 1 in Napoleon's favour, the outcome was predictable. The hapless, Olsufiev's corps was almost wiped out with only some 200 casulaties on the French side. Olsufiev himself suffered the humiliation of being captured by a nineteen year old conscript with only six months service. Only 1000 survivors managed to escape to tell of the disaster at the Battle of Champaubert To Be continued.... Category:Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition